•••Says it’s Undemocratic, Unlawful
By Kamsi Anayo
The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State on Thursday voided the local government election that took place in the 13 LGAs of the state.
The local government election was conducted on 30th July; 2022 by the EbonyiState Independent National Electoral Commission EBSIEC.
The Presiding Judge Fatun Riman in suit No. FHC/AI/CS/151/2022 ruled that the conduct of the Ebonyi local government election was undemocratic and unlawful and therefore declared it null and void.
Speaking to journalists in Abakaliki, counsel to the plaintiff, Mudi Erhenedi commended the Federal High Court for upholding justice in Ebonyi state.
According to him: “It is undemocratic and unlawful to conduct an election into the local government areas or council without availing the plaintiffs with the exact law that is meant to regulate the exercise.
“There are a lot of other issues with non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022. The Electoral Act 2022 said the procedures for conducting elections in the local government areas by state commissioners must comply with that procedure for conducting into area councils in the FCT.
“If you look at it, how do you access compliance without law if you hide the law with which you want to conduct the election? Is it not when you make the law public that we will know whether you complied with it or not? How can you be making laws and hiding them?”
However, all efforts to get a reaction from the government lawyer, Roy Nweze to respond to the ruling of the court, at the time of filing this report failed, as he was not picking up calls.
